Cleveland plans to renovate historic ballfield

Cleveland plans to pump $5 million into the renovation of League Park, the historic ballpark in the Hough neighborhood where Babe Ruth hit his 500th home run.

1924 Plain Dealer file photo of League Park

The renovation will cost $8.5 million, city officials said, and they hope to raise the rest of the money through private donations.

The public money will come from the sale of bonds in 2008 and 2009 as part of Mayor Frank Jackson's five-year capital plan. It would pay to restore the ballfield with home plate in its original spot and a replica of the outfield wall.

Plans also call for renovating the ticket house, the underground tunnel that ran from the clubhouse to the dugout and the original brick wall along East 66th Street, just north of Lexington Avenue.

The design includes seating for about 2,500 and a patio for picnics.

Jackson's chief of staff, Ken Silliman, said the goal is to restore the site so youth baseball leagues and Cleveland high school teams can use it as their home field.

"The nice thing about this plan is we think it's achievable," said Paul Volpe, president of City Architecture, the firm that has twice created designs to restore the ballpark.

City Architecture rendering of renovated League Park

The first pitch came in 2002 under then-Mayor Jane Campbell. She proposed at least $13 million of renovations, including a museum dedicated to the Negro League and the Indians.

The Indians won the World Series at League Park in 1920. The Cleveland Buckeyes of the old Negro League won the Negro World Series there in 1945.

The new design by City Architecture does not include a stand-alone museum, although Volpe said space inside the old ticket house could be converted into a small exhibition area.

Councilwoman Fannie Lewis, who represents the Hough neighborhood, has been pushing for years to restore the ballpark.

She still favors the original plan with a separate museum, and said she was unaware of a scaled-down version. She said she plans to meet with the mayor to discuss the project.

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